ABET prepares your employees for ever-changing workplaces and lays the foundations upon which to develop 21st century skills. AET teaches literacy and numeracy, the absolute basic skills that your employees need to function effectively in a modern economy. They are, thus, collectively referred to as workplace literacy skills. However, these are also the bare minimum in terms of skills that South Africans will need to add value in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
Also referred to as Industry 4.0, this is an era of connectivity; sophisticated analytics; automation; and advanced-manufacturing technology. The three drivers behind Industry 4.0 include agility, flexibility and manufacturing efficiency. Refer to https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-are-industry-4-0-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-and-4ir.
If South Africa is going to compete effectively globally, it also needs to transition into the 4IR. However, the changeover must be managed very carefully, considering South Africa’s very unique socio-economic circumstances. If handled incorrectly, 4IR will exacerbate high unemployment, poverty and inequality, the very social ills which this industrial revolution is intended to eradicate.
The widescale rollout of automation and robotics could potentially have a large negative impact on the livelihoods of many South Africans. These are the unskilled and semi-skilled employees who perform important but general and mundane tasks. They work on mines, quarries, farms and construction sites and in factories, warehouses and retail outlets. In terms of skills, they have very little to contribute to sophisticated industries. In many instances, machines could perform their work quicker, more efficiently and in a safer manner. 4IR technologies in the mining industry, for example, increase throughput and efficiency gains; reduce costs; and improve health and safety. In the manufacturing industry, they lead to increased efficiency; predictive and proactive maintenance ability; reduced costs; improved safety; and reduced margin of error. 4IR is leading to increased yields, lower costs and reduced environmental impacts in agriculture.
ABET and inequality
ABET is already recognised as an important means of fighting unemployment, poverty and inequality. AET is geared at South Africans who have not completed their education. As a result, they are stuck in poverty. Without literacy and numeracy skills, they cannot improve their current circumstances, least of all navigate the ultra-sophisticated workplaces and societies of the future.
In the first quarter of 2023, the unemployment rate was 32,9%, among the highest in the world. According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), this is an increase of 0,2 of a percentage point compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. Meanwhile, just under half of the total population lives under the poverty line. Refer to Five facts about poverty in South Africa | Statistics South Africa (statssa.gov.za). These factors fuel inequality, among the highest in the world. Our Gini – an index that measures inequality – increased further in the early 2000s and has remained stubbornly high ever since. Refer to Six Charts Explain South Africa’s Inequality (imf.org).
The largest beneficiaries of 4IR will be the providers of intellectual and physical capital, including shareholders, investors and innovators. Technology is one of the main reasons why incomes have stagnated or even decreased for the majority of people in high-income countries. This has driven the demand for highly skilled employees while the need for workers with less education has declined. It is, thus, a driver of inequalities in these countries.
ABET develops an inclusive economy
ABET is a way of ensuring that this industrial revolution develops an inclusive economy. AET, including adult literacy and numeracy training, focuses specifically on the previously marginalised.
The vast majority of South Africans were previously excluded from meaningfully participating in the first three industrial revolutions. Deprived of education, their sole role was to merely provide cheap labour to companies. Their exclusion from industrial progress has led to many of the challenges with which we grapple today. This includes an inability to seamlessly undergo 4IR because of acute skills deficits and the potential impact that it could have on the fragile socio-economic fabric of the country.
Reskilling is a way of ensuring a “just transition”. This term is often used to describe the move to a low carbon economy, but it is just as applicable to 4IR. Refer to http://satrilibrary.dedicated.co.za:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/115/Africa%20Portal%204IR%20and%20Just%20Transition%20Article.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
Other methods proposed to mitigate the impact of the disruptive force of 4IR will not address unemployment, poverty and inequality. A case in point is the suggestion to tax companies that introduce robotics to fund welfare programmes for the jobless. Bear in mind the many South Africans who are already dependent on welfare and no longer active in the economy. They are still poor, despite receiving support from state. This is also a waste of talent that could be deployed to grow the economy. As of 2019, approximately 18-million citizens vulnerable to poverty or in need of state support received social grants; relief assistance; or social relief from government. The number of social grant recipients was proportionally high in KwaZulu-Natal, amounting to just over 4 million people.
South Korea, one of the most roboticised countries, intends introducing such a tax. However, South Korea only has a 3,7% unemployment rate with the vast majority of its citizens active participants in its economy.
Access to quality ABET
Therefore, as we transition into 4IR, there is a need to ensure greater access to quality ABET. AET will equip the more than 4 million functionally illiterate South African adults with literacy and numeracy skills.
Experts believe that 4IR technology has the potential to replace 3,3 million existing employees in the country. Demand for physical and manual skills in repeatable tasks will decline by about 30%. These include typical assembly line-type jobs in factories. Meanwhile, demand for employees with only basic literacy and numeracy skills will drop by more than 50%.
There have already been job losses in the country due to the introduction of 4IR technologies in some industries. When South African banks automated and introduced online banking, about 2 700 white collar workers lost their jobs. Meanwhile, a large private broadcasting company will cut 2 000 white collar jobs as it moves towards online streaming services. This will enable it to compete against a plethora of content streaming service providers that have entered the market. These companies have harnessed the power of the internet to provide a better customer experience than traditional broadcasting business models can. This includes a significantly broader offering at a fraction of the cost of digital satellite television. Meanwhile, the state broadcaster has retrenched hundreds of jobs as it grapples to remain relevant in a changing market. It has been fortunate to receive state backing, whereas private companies have had to restructure to adapt to changing markets. This almost always results in large-scale retrenchments.
ABET high on the agenda
ABET should, therefore, be high on the agenda for policymakers and captains of industry as they attempt to navigate the transition to 4IR. If implemented according to the requirements of the Skills Development Act, skills development programmes can mitigate large-scale job losses. AET, including adult literacy and numeracy training, meets the requirements of the Act. This is by expanding the knowledge and competencies of the labour force to improve productivity and employment. Refer to https://static.pmg.org.za/docs/2000/appendices/000229SDASummary.htm#:~:text=The%20Skills%20Development%20Act%20aims,to%20improve%20productivity%20and%20employment.
However, there are still many companies that do not pay skills development fees. This undermines the concept of lifelong learning for employees. Employees need to constantly hone and refine existing skills or acquire new ones. This is so that they can improve their competitiveness in the job market.
Bear in mind the changing industrial landscape of the country. Industries are relying more on skilled workers, creating less unskilled and semi-skilled employment opportunities. Between 2018 and 2021, there was a marked decline in the employment of people with low educational attainment. This includes individuals who have only completed primary or secondary school. Demand for people who only hold a diploma or certificate has also declined. Only individuals with degrees experienced an increase in employment during this period.
Individuals who have completed ABET
Many individuals who have completed ABET study for a degree. In possession of an AET Level 4 certificate, they are able to complete adult matric to obtain university exemption. When undertaken properly, adult literacy and numeracy training can instil a passion for learning among participants so that they constantly upskill.
This is important considering the disruptive force of these industrial revolutions. The advent of computers in the 1980s – the third industrial revolution – led to the loss of 3,5 million jobs. However, they were replaced by 14 million additional jobs.
Experts believe that 4IR can create 4,5 million additional jobs for South African citizens. However, these will be reserved for highly skilled professionals. For example, demand for technological skills, such as coding, are expected to increase by more than 50%. The need for complex cognitive and high-level social and emotional skills will rise by about 33% and more than 30%, respectively.
Will these vacancies be filled with local professionals or will companies have to import these skills? Notably, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [South Africa – OECD] reports that there are already considerable occupational shortages in the country. The share of occupational shortages across occupational groups ranges from 38% for skilled agricultural workers to 94,2% for managers. Within these occupations, there is also a notable acute shortage of individual skills competencies. These include reading comprehension, writing, speaking and active listening.
Another factor that must be considered is the potential mismatch between skills taught at university and those actually required by industry. The unemployment rate of graduates in 2021 was 38%. Therefore, university graduates are not being absorbed into the economy. If there is, indeed, such a skills gap, it is unlikely that universities are prepared for 4IR and will be able to fill these vacancies.
ABET focus
ABET should be the focus at present. This is because AET, including adult literacy and numeracy training, will help to raise the skills levels of the local labour force in anticipation of 4IR.
Bear in mind that the education level and skills base of the local labour force is lower than that of many other productive economies. Of the employed population, 20% has a tertiary qualification and 32% has completed secondary education.
Almost half of the national workforce does not hold a grade 12 certificate. Notably, 60% of unemployed South Africans do not have a grade 12 certificate. Therefore, 11,75 million people who make up our labour force have not reached National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Level 4. Refer to LMIP_SkillsSupplyandDemand_Sept2016.pdf (hsrc.ac.za).
The quality of basic education remains a major hurdle in the way of introducing 4IR in the country. Worryingly, the pass rate in mathematics and physical science – two key matric subjects that enable learners to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics degrees – is low. Between 2018 and 2021, the mathematics pass rate ranged from 53,8% to 58%. The pass rate for physical sciences dropped from 75,5% to 69% during this period. Therefore, the number of science, engineering, technology and education graduates declined by 0,4% and 3,4%, respectively from 2018 to 2021. 4IR, which is technology and knowledge driven, is dependent on these skills. Moreover, science, technology, engineering and mathematics knowledge is associated with 75% of the fastest growing occupations, innovations and wage premiums.
The impact of ABET
The impact of ABET on high functional illiteracy in the country thus far has been limited. Considering the scores of functionally illiterate adults in the country, the reach of AET needs to be extended. This is the only way that these citizens will be able to acquire foundational literacy and numeracy skills. Many of these individuals cannot find employment and others are stuck in low-paying jobs that also provide very little security.
For example, 58,7% of the 1 379 792 employed people in the Eastern Cape have not completed secondary education. Only 5,8% have a tertiary education. Two occupation categories account for 46% of all workers in the province. 28% are in elementary jobs and 19% are service and sales employees. Of the more than 1 million people employed in the province, only 20% are skilled workers. 46% are semi-skilled and 34% unskilled workers.
Almost half of the working population in the province are at high risk of losing their jobs to automation. This is based on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s automation risk table. Refer to what-happened-to-jobs-at-high-risk-of-automation-2021.pdf (oecd.org). These include the many people who work in the manufacturing industry, the second-largest employer after the trade, catering and accommodation industries.
Of particular concern is the high rate of functional illiteracy among working and unemployed people in the Eastern Cape. The illiteracy rate for the Eastern Cape is 15%, whereas the national average is 10,5%. Industries in this province are, therefore, nowhere near to undergoing the 4IR. The introduction of advanced technology would have dire socio-economic ramifications in one of South Africa’s poorest provinces. In 2016, the multi-dimensional poverty rate in the Eastern Cape was 12,7%. This can be attributed to the province being largely rural.
ABET teaches language skills
ABET teaches literacy and numeracy skills, the basis for further learning. The ultimate objective of quality AET is to equip people with the skills that they need to embark on a lifelong learning journey. Individuals who hold an ABET Level 4 certificate have literacy and numeracy skills that are equivalent to someone who has completed Grade 9. Therefore, their literacy and numeracy skills are at a NQF Level 1. The next logical step is to complete adult matric which is at a NQF level 4.
According to the World Economic Forum, 21st century skills include complex problem solving; critical thinking; creativity; people management; and coordinating with others. This is in addition to judgement and decision making; negotiation; and cognitive flexibility. Refer to The 10 skills you need to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution | World Economic Forum (weforum.org).
According to the Education Design lab [Home – Education Design Lab (eddesignlab.org)], 21st century skills include initiative, collaboration and creative problem solving. This is in addition to critical thinking, intercultural fluency, empathy, oral communication and resilience.
Meanwhile, the Institute for the Future [IFTF – The Future Is Wide Open] describes 21st century skills as sense-making; social intelligence; and novel and adaptive thinking. This is in addition to cross-cultural competence; computational thinking; new-media literacy; trans-disciplinarity; design mindset; cognitive load management; and virtual collaboration.
ABET imparts skills
ABET imparts the skills that enable people to pick up a scientific understanding of the world. Individuals who have completed AET can read for meaning and perform basic calculations because they have literacy and numeracy skills.
Reading for meaning and an ability to perform basic calculations enables people to detect relations between objects and events in their life. They are able to tell cause from effect and these from correlation. With this capacity, they can take on the challenges that 4IR promises to solve and the problems that it will engender.
Triple E Training is a leading provider of adult literacy training and numeracy training. Our ABET is equipping low and semi-skilled employees with foundational skills so that they too can play a larger role in economic growth and development. Together with our clients, we are also teaching these skills to the unemployed in poor areas.
Learn more about Triple E Training and how we are making an impact on functional illiteracy in the country. www.eee.co.za
